BOJ: Currency issue peaked at $100.1B up to December 23

The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) said that for the week leading up to the Christmas holidays, December 19 to 23, it issued currency amounting to $13.2 billion, representing an increase of 15.2 per cent in the currency stock for the week.

This was higher than the $7.2 billion or 11.4 per cent increase in stock for the same period in 2015, the central bank said in a release.

The currency issue for the review week contributed to a net increase of $16.1 billion or 19.2 per cent in the currency stock for the month to December 23, which was broadly in line with the bank's projection for an expansion of 19.8 per cent for the period.

At December 23, the stock of currency was $100.1 billion, representing an increase of 15.9 per cent relative to December 23, 2015.

When the forecasted change in the consumer price index for December is taken into account, the real growth in currency for the period was 13.8 per cent, which is much higher than the real growth of 7.6 per cent for the same period of the previous year, the BOJ said.

The bank said it had projected the currency stock to peak marginally higher on December 23, 2016, at $100.6 billion, with some redemption expected thereafter.